Landslides in Cyprus

Cyprus is well-known for its interesting and often complex geology, particularly in the south-west part of the island. Here, the remains of former sea-floor deposits and massive submarine slides, (referred to as ‘olistostromes’ and including massive breccias called mélange) are exposed in the Paphos District situated between the Troodos Mountains and the sea. These deposits tend to be heavily deformed and are rich in the types of clay minerals that are prone to landsliding. This tendency is exacerbated by the steep terrain and the long history of powerful earthquakes in the region.

Paphos District landslides

In some parts of the Paphos District landslides cover as much as 70 per cent of the landscape. These cause persistent disruption to villages and infrastructure including roads and water supply. Many types of landslide can be seen in a relatively small area, from deep-seated rotational landslides (Figure 1), through translational block movements and topples, to shallow mudflows. These landslides have been mapped by the Geological Survey Department of Cyprus in collaboration with BGS (Northmore et al., 1987a, b; Northmore et al., 1988) and more recently as part of Scott Wilson’s mapping programme. The terrain is characterised by steep-sided plateaux made up of ‘Melange’ and ‘Kannaviou Clay’ capped by thick chalk sequences. These chalks act as reservoirs releasing water into the clay and sandstone slopes below (Figures 2 and 3).

Limestone 'olistoliths' Paphos District

‘Olistoliths’ within the mélange are huge isolated blocks of rock, usually limestone, which were detached by the submarine olistostromes and now dot the skyline (Figure 4). These can be the size of a large office block and some have been quarried almost completely away. In some cases, they are unstable and subject to rock falls. The heavily sheared fabric of the extremely plastic Kannaviou Clay, that is key to many landslides in the area, is shown in Figure 5. Unusual rock fall/slide features can also be found, as that shown in Figure 6.